I'm feeling patriotic tonight so I thought I'd offer up more music from the land of tartan, shortbread and bagpipes. Most of the cool music from Scotland is found under discussion at The Vinyl Villain, but The Proclaimers? At first glance they seem, as they did when they first appeared, geeky and very un rock 'n' roll. However, from day 1 they have always been passionate about what they do and their great gift has been to convey that to more and more people. The Proclaimers now have a huge fan base and whilst I wouldn't claim to be a huge Proclaimers lover, I have always admired them. But Sunshine On Leith I DO love.
When it appeared in 1988 it was reviewed in the NME and I still remember them raving about its heady mix of sex, politics, love, loss, all wrapped up in a musical mix that evoked peak Van Morrison and Prince. It remains one of those few albums that is strong throughout, and even though the style of songs vary, the quality is maintained. Special mention goes to Oh Jean, the literal climax of the album. The tale of back of the bus conjugals with a willing young lady it offers a 'musical orgasm' to match The Beatles' more famous attempt on Sgt Pepper. I'll leave you to seek that on your own.
Instead, two lovely tracks. First a cover of Steve Earl's 'My Old Friend The Blues' which tops the original, and 'Sunshine On Leith' a beautiful song about my home town. Glasgow has the upper hand when it comes to music in Scotland, but this song about Edinburgh tips the scales a little towards the East coast for a change. The music of The Proclaimers has been turned into a stage musical which apparently is excellent, and I hope to see it one day. The Reid brothers tour later this year so maybe I'll pop along.
1 comment:
Love Sunshine on leith ( having lived there for 2 yrs i didnt see much) - brings back memories of drunken sing alongs at college
Post a Comment